Academic Awards Ceremony Marks 12th Successful Year of Partnership

First Class Honours graduates with Platform Party! (L-R) KC Lee of SEGi, Dato' (Dr) Patrick Teoh of SEGi, Lum Hui Meng - Prizewinner, Debbie Yong - Prizewinner, Professor Michael Swanston - Vice-Principal of UAD, Hew Moi Lan - SEGi.

16th December 2006 Almost 250 degrees and academic awards for Malaysian students were confirmed today (Saturday, 16 December) in a special ceremony held in Kuala Lumpur by one of Scotland's leading modern universities. The University of Abertay Dundee, based in Dundee, world-famous as the “City of Discovery”, held its annual Academic Awards Convocation for Malaysian students. Abertay's Vice-Principal (Academic Development), Professor Mike Swanston, travelled to Malaysia with senior colleagues especially to preside over the event. Professor Swanston personally confirmed degrees and diplomas in subjects ranging from accountancy and finance, to business administration, and marketing.

The courses are delivered in conjunction with SEG International Group Bhd (SEGi), one of Malaysia's leading private sector providers of higher education. Dato' Dr Patrick Teoh, President of SEGi and an Honorary Graduate of Abertay University, was among the platform party at the ceremony.

Hundreds of family members and friends also gathered at Kuala Lumpur's prestigious Hotel Nikko to witness the ceremony amid all the pomp and pageantry appropriate to the occasion.

A highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of two University Prizes. Faye Lum, who graduated 1 st class honours in Accountacy & Finance, won the University Prize for best student studying full-time on an Abertay course in Malaysia, and Debbie Yong, who also graduated 1 st class honours in Accountancy & Finance, won the University Technical Education Prize for the best student studying part-time on an Abertay course in Malaysia.

Today's ceremony took place in the presence of special guest Mr Gerry Liston, director of the British Council in Malaysia. Also present with Dato' Dr Teoh was Mr K C Lee, chief operating officer of SEGi. Other senior staff from Abertay University and SEGi also attended the event along with academics involved in the delivery of Abertay programmes in Malaysia.

Professor Swanston congratulated all the graduates, saying: “ What you have achieved is a tribute to your hard work and dedication. I am sure that it was difficult sometimes and that you faced and overcame many challenges. The University is very proud of you all, because we understand what it takes to succeed. Your success is ours too.

“The University is very pleased that all our Malaysian students have performed so well. Your degree is an Abertay degree. You have followed the same curriculum and used the same learning materials and resources as our students back in Scotland; the same external examiners and Assessment Boards judged your work. So you have attained the same degree as that obtained by your fellow students in Dundee and they join with you too , in celebration of your successes,” said Professor Swanston.

Abertay's courses in Malaysia are taught in a programme of fully-supported flexible learning delivered through SEGi. Over the 12 years that the partnership has been running, more than 2,500 students in Malaysia have achieved Abertay degrees through SEGi.

Abertay degrees in accountancy and finance, business administration and marketing are taught in three SEGi campuses in Malaysia : Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya and Penang .

There are about 450 students on the three programmes, using modules and materials identical to those taught on Abertay's own campus in Dundee, and enjoying online access to the University's Library. All assessments are set and marked at Abertay, and are scrutinised by the same assessment boards and external examiners as those of students in Dundee.

Abertay has remodelled its courses for the 2006/07 academic year, adding practical projects assessing real businesses, and new modules that deal with contemporary challenges in the global economy.

The University is also providing more support for its students in Malaysia, by introducing new stages of that will enable students at SEGi to study UAD programmes in business, marketing, and finance, for three years, and even to study at home, at SEGi or at work, online, allowing them to combine study more conveniently with the rest of their lives.

In his speech to the new graduates, Professor Swanston welcomed them to the worldwide community of Abertay graduates, saying: “ Many of our graduates have gone on to achieve great success in the UK, Malaysia and internationally. We are extremely proud of our alumni in Malaysia, who include senior officers in technology firms, major banks and legal firms, and teaching staff at leading colleges.

“I would like to thank very sincerely, and publicly, our partners in Malaysia—the management, academic and administrative staff at Systematic Education Group International Berhad—who share our commitment to putting the student at the centre of our thinking and activity.

“We are very proud too of the strong reputation that SEGi College and the University of Abertay Dundee have earned through their collaboration. Working together, and through our joint efforts, we are meeting the needs of Malaysian students who seek high-quality, relevant programmes of study as the launch pad to their careers.

“Co-partnership arrangements are becoming increasingly important in this era of global competitiveness and the relationship between the University of Abertay Dundee and SEGi College has grown over the years into a well-developed collaboration, allowing knowledge and skills to flow in both directions and friendships to be formed.

“We share a commitment to preparing the graduate professionals demanded by the new international knowledge economy, and it is vital that our students, wherever they may be, experience and benefit from, the highest standards of teaching and the best of leading edge technologies.